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Yes indeed, this is very[/b] interesting. For several years I've read glowing reviews of Hatto in Gramophone, but something about the whole thing just seemed a bit dodgy. I wondered how a woman in such poor health could have made such landmark recordings of some of the most piano difficult literature.

I had planned on purchasing some of her CDs, but the music would always have duplicated existing -and satisfactory- recordings in my library. After Hamelin, I didn't feel a necessity to duplicate the Godowsky Studies or add yet another Rachmaninov 3 from any pianist.

Originally posted by argerichfan: ...I wondered how a woman in such poor health could have made such landmark recordings of some of the most piano difficult literature.... [/b]

Her disease did give an excuse for her never playing in public, however (she claimed never to be able to predict when the pain from her disease was going to hit her).

I've got to listen to that Op. 106 soon.

I remember that her Barcarolle (or the one attributed to her) was pretty good but not great. I could post it. Who would sue me?

She claimed two recordings of the Chopin Études, one made on her 70th or 75th birthday. I'd love to compare the two now, to see if (with hindsight, of course) one could conclude that the set would have to have been made by two different pianists (they were purported to have been recorded only a few years apart).

(Sigh) One fantasy dashed, though - the idea that one could devote oneself assiduously to Cortot's Rational Principles..., which she claimed to have done and really achieve broad mastery of the piano literature.

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There is no end of learning. -Robert Schumann Rules for Young Musicians

Originally posted by Palindrome:Her disease did give an excuse for her never playing in public, however (she claimed never to be able to predict when the pain from her disease was going to hit her).

Yes, I had read something to that effect, yet how much of this in hindsight can I believe? Gramophone (according to the link posted above) will have an article in the April issue. I wouldn't post the Chopin right now.

Someone also posted a thread regarding this on gff. This is rather intersting stuff. I have both her Chopets and Chopgods that were recorded in her 70's. I remember comparing her Chopgod No 2 Op.10 No.1 D Flat Major-Left Hand and to Hamelin's, and being were impressed. I've also been contemplating buying her recently released complete Ravel which was favorably reviewed: http://classicstoday.com/review.asp?ReviewNum=10667

While the evidence posted at pristineclassical is pretty damning on the face of it, I would like to see further substantiation. I would also like to hear a formal response from Joyce's husband, who owns and runs her label, Concert Artists.

"Love has nothing to do with what you are expecting to get — only what you are expecting to give — which is everything. What you will receive in return varies. But it really has no connection with what you give. You give because you love and cannot help giving." Katharine Hepburn

Amazing! Talk about chutzpah to use another's recording and pawn it off as one's own. Should be interesting if and when more details emerge about the true culprit (husband? Hatto herself? or group of conspirators?)

Well, there's the rub, right? Are the recordings as good as they have been made out to be? I won't go so far as saying that we all hear what we expect to hear, but certainly our reactions and evaluations are affected by more than just the sound. We take into account all the information we have, whether we like it or not, I think. And the critics who fawned over these discs were apparently provided with some very inaccurate information. You can almost the hear the gears turning--slowly--in the critic brain: this pianist has mastered a ridiculous amount of rep, therefore she must be some sort of genius, and therefore her interpretations must be running over with all manner of revelatory insights. And she must have a truly unique, personal voice.

I haven't heard any Hatto recordings. I did catch some of the buzz, but I was never suspicious. Ashkenazy has recorded everything, so why not Hatto? I suppose that I just wasn't intrigued enough to buy any of the discs. I confess that I won't be disappointed if they are proven to be frauds, primarily because I find the star-cult mentality (the idea that there are a few godlike artists who alone are worthy of attention and support, because they always play better than the lesser mortals) to be absurd. Also, it would be nice to see this turn out well for all the Nojimas and Simons out there.

No you're not, if they're as good as they're made out to be. So maybe it wasn't really her playing, but in the end you still have CDs. [/b]

Yes, he is. I've seen Ken's CD collection. He's already got everything else, which would mean the original recordings from which the Hatto discs may have been pirated (time and more checking by eagle-eared* and technologically savvy persons will tell).

*If eagles have good eyes, I suppose the metaphor will not be misunderstood, whether or not the birds hear well, also.

_________________________
There is no end of learning. -Robert Schumann Rules for Young Musicians

I'm speechless... is this woman real? From reading the story I would've thought it was a much, much more well-elaborated variation of one of those "cancer patients" who coincidentally die off the minute that skepticism arises. But if she was in fact a real person I of course intend no disrespect toward her, at least not in this way.

"Love has nothing to do with what you are expecting to get — only what you are expecting to give — which is everything. What you will receive in return varies. But it really has no connection with what you give. You give because you love and cannot help giving." Katharine Hepburn

I just read the article in the NY Times this morning. wow. The evidence is pretty convincing so far. The question is going to be-- are any of these recordings legitimate? Did anyone here ever hear her play in person?

Originally posted by sophial:Did anyone here ever hear her play in person? Sophia [/b]

Not since her last concert in London in 1976. Some websites report 1979 as the year of her last concert.

The severe pain she experienced from cancer would overtake her anytime during a performance, so she gave up performing in public.

She fought that horrible disease for 36 years.

This is getting stranger and stranger.

She was apparently a phenomenally gifted pianist.

From a review of her Wigmore Hall debut in 1954:

The Guardian's Neville Cardus wrote of her Brahms Paganini Variations that they were "despatched in a seamless riot of ecstatic bravura laced with underlying deep musical feeling rarely countenanced in this work".

She was the first person in modern times to play all of the Beethoven-Liszt Symphonies in concert.

At another concert, she played the 12 Transendental Etudes, preceeded by Liszt's first version of the TEs.

She was told by the London Conservatory (correction: this should be the Royal Acadamy of Music) that, being a woman, she would do better to learn to cook a good roast than to study piano.

"Love has nothing to do with what you are expecting to get — only what you are expecting to give — which is everything. What you will receive in return varies. But it really has no connection with what you give. You give because you love and cannot help giving." Katharine Hepburn

Originally posted by dannylux:She was the first person in modern times to play all of the Beethoven-Liszt Symphonies in concert.

At another concert, she played the 12 Transendental Etudes, preceeded by Liszt's first version of the TEs.

Any reviews of these concerts? I remain unconvinced.

I have the scores to both the Beethoven-Liszt and the earlier version of Liszt's TE. Throw in the Godowsky nonsense -I have those scores too- and I smell a rat. Pure and simple. The pianist that no one has ever heard of that just happens to negotiate this impossibly difficult repertoire with the ease that would make Hamelin blush? Bullshit.